Life To The Dead
My Redeemer Gives • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 22:58
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· 8 viewsOUR GREATEST NEEDS What do you really need right now? To answer that question, one must first define what a “need” is. We understand that a “need” is greater than a “want.” If you lack something you want, life goes on just fine. If you lack something you need, that presents a problem. Thus, to correctly answer that question, “What do you really need right now,” ultimately one must understand their greatest problems. Mankind’s greatest problems are universal. We all live under the curse of sin. That sin makes us utterly helpless in our natural state. Natural man is confused, unable to make sense of life. Left in sin, man is doomed to death, and not just physical death. After one’s heart stops comes another type of death that is infinitely worse, an eternal nightmare. LIFE FOR THE DEAD The author and poet George Eliot once wrote, “Our dead are never dead to us, until we have forgotten them.” The Roman philosopher Cicero said much the same. He wrote, “The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living.” What second rate comfort! But that is the best the unbelieving world can offer—the sappy sentiment that our dead loved ones somehow “live on” in our memories. It is a sad way to attempt to cope as you walk through the cemetery. Jesus provides a better solution to death. He promises life. One day Jesus will give your faithful dead back to you—to love and to laugh and to hug and to dance. Body and soul, living and walking in the new heaven and the new earth. How do we know Jesus can and will keep that promise? Because the Son of God descended into the darkness of death himself and emerged on Easter Sunday as the first fruit of the resurrection of all God’s people. In the creed we confess, “I believe in the resurrection of the body.” Yet again, Jesus satisfies our greatest needs.
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Root Your Hope In The Goodness & Love Of God
3.26.23 [2 Kings 4:8-37] River of Life (5th Sunday in Lent)
Tragic. Heartbreaking. Unimaginable. Words seem incapable of capturing the grief of this Shunammite mother. Even if you have gone through the bitter distress of losing a child as she did, even if you have experienced that misery, you know how hard it is actually to express what you’re thinking and feeling.
Having your young child die in your lap is tragic. Heart-breaking. And unimaginable to us, today. But it wasn’t always this way.
Two hundred years ago, the child mortality rate in our country was around 46%. Nearly half of the children born did not reach their 5th birthday. 200 years ago, those deaths were still tragic. Heart-breaking. But not unimaginable. 100 years later, with God’s blessings and medical advancements, that rate dropped to 18%. For the past 85 years, it’s been under 8%. Since the ’50s, it’s been about 4%. Today it’s slightly over ½%.
With deaths like these being so few and far between, the death of any child has become unimaginable for us, in addition to being tragic and heartbreaking. Yet, there is something even more tragic, heartbreaking, and unimaginable about this death.
By all accounts, this woman was kind, generous, and humble. She made a point of urging Elisha, (2 Kg. 4:9) the holy man of God, to stop by their home to eat. She also encouraged her husband to give Elisha his own room on the roof of their home (2 Kg. 4:10) whenever he came to town. Her kindness & generosity impressed Elisha and he wanted to reciprocate. So he asked her what they could do for her. Could we put in a good word with the king and maybe reduce your taxes? Some military protection?
She politely declined. She was content to give without receiving anything. But Elisha wouldn’t take no for an answer. His servant, Gehazi, suggested that she would love to have a son of her own, since (2 Kg. 4:14) her husband was old. Elisha agreed and wanted to share the good news with her in person. But instead of rejoicing, she objected. (2 Kg. 4:16) Don’t mislead me! Don’t play with my heart! He wasn’t. God blessed her with a son. (2 Kg. 4:17) The next year, she gave birth to a son as Elisha had said. Her joy must have been profound. The Lord chose to honor her with a son! What a tremendous, heart-warming, unimaginable blessing!
Or so it seemed. Sometime later, when the child was more grown, he joined his dad in the fields. Suddenly, his head hurt. A servant carried him home and laid him in his mother’s lap. (2 Kg. 4:20) There he died. Tragedy struck. Her heart was broken. She had to see the holy man of God. She hurried out to the field and asked for a servant and a donkey to get to Elisha as quickly as possible. She refused to disclose her bitter anguish to anyone else—not her husband and not Elisha’s servant, Gehazi.
When she finally reached the holy man of God, she fell at his feet and would not let go. Elisha knew there was something wrong, but the Lord had not revealed to him what had happened. Then her grief burst forth. (2 Kg. 4:28) Did I ask you for a son? Didn’t I tell you, don’t raise my hopes?
Have you been in that position before? Have you ever felt a grief like hers? Maybe it was the loss of a child—one you knew and raised, or one you carried for just a time. It’s excruciating to have your hopes raised by a pregnancy test & then be devastated at a doctor’s visit.
Maybe it was a different health issue. You were worried about a test and then it came back negative, only to have some new condition emerge. That rollercoaster of emotions can be draining & crushing.
Maybe your hopes were raised in a relationship. A loved one takes significant steps in addressing their struggle. It feels like they’re making great progress. Then suddenly they relapse. Fall into old habits. Get back into drugs. Deceive you again. You had so much hope for them. Now you’re frustrated embarrassed, & angry.
Maybe your hopes were raised for something really personal. You had big hopes and dreams and it seemed like the Lord was opening all kinds of doors and then suddenly, after all that work, after so much had gone right, the last door gets slammed in your face.
These situations are especially painful when we feel like we were doing all the right things. When we are blindsided by bitter distress.
Think about this woman. She had gone out of her way to do things that others had not. She didn’t ask for this blessing of a son, but now, once she was just starting to enjoy this new life, he was ripped away from her. (2 Kg. 4:27) Bitter distress was the tip of the iceberg. How many times has God “let you down” and you responded with resentment? You weren’t just disappointed; you began to sulk and pout. You may have lashed out at God in ways others could see, or maybe you quietly grew disgruntled.
I wonder if that’s what happened in Bethany. John tells us when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, (Jn. 11:20) she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home. Perhaps Mary had things to do—but don’t forget when Martha was busy making preparations for Jesus and his disciples, Mary chose to quietly sit at Jesus’ feet. I wonder if there weren’t some hard feelings fomenting in Mary.
Of course, that is not how this Shunammite woman reacted. She went straight to Elisha and she wouldn’t go back home unless he came with her. Why? Perhaps she had heard of the miracle God did through Elijah for (1 Kg. 17:19-24) the widow at Zarephath. When that woman’s son died, Elijah took him to his upper room, prayed, and stretched himself out on top of the boy three times. God raised that boy back to life. Surely he could do it again! And in a strange, but similar fashion, the holy man of God stared death in the face, prayed, and God raised him to life. Again.
It’s an incredible miracle. One of three revivifications in the Old Testament. Jesus also brings three specific people back to life during his ministry. And in the book of Acts, God does the same through Peter and Paul.
Yet, there is a part of us that wonders, why just them, right? Why doesn’t God do this for all the tragic, heartbreaking, unimaginable deaths? Why doesn’t he do this in our lives? Why doesn’t he relieve our bitter distress?
Look at what God did for them. He brought them back to life. But he brought them back to their ordinary lives with their ordinary bodies and everything the way it was before they died. Yes, this brought great joy to their loved ones. And it was a good thing—because God only gives good gifts. But they still had all the same challenges, problems, and frustrations as before. And, eventually, they all still died. Being brought back to life was a good thing, because it demonstrates God’s ability to give life to the dead. It reveals (Jn. 11:40) the glory of God. And our glorious God has done something better for us. God knows bitter distress and eternal joy. God gave his Son over to bitter distress so that we might have eternal joy.
The only way that God could secure that gift for us was to go through a similar experience as this Shunammite woman. Life was worked when and where it was not expected, when and where it was not asked for.
Since 336 A.D. Christians have celebrated Jesus’ birth on December 25th. While we cannot be certain Jesus was born on this date, it has served us well to set aside this date to thank and praise God for sending his Son, (Gal. 4:4) born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law. Since we celebrate his birth on Dec. 25th, we can do some math and date the angel Gabriel’s announcement to Mary that she would give birth to the Savior. Do you know when that date is? March 25th. Yesterday.
At that moment, when the Holy Spirit overshadowed that young virgin from Nazareth, all the world’s hopes were contained in a tenth of a millimeter.
For nine months, the Maker of heaven and earth grew and matured within Mary’s womb. Then he was born in Bethlehem. And heaven burst forth with joy. The angels and shepherds glorified God. Mary pondered all these things in her heart. Life was very good. For a little while. Until Herod tried to kill the King of kings. But God spared Joseph, Mary, & Jesus.
Raising the boy Jesus must have been quite a treat for Joseph and Mary. Imagine having a child that never sinned. The most grief he brought his parents was staying in the Temple. Even then, he did not sin.
But this child was destined to bear our sins & die. And his mother witnessed the whole thing. She heard the vile cries of crucify him. She watched the onlookers mock him. She heard his cries to his heavenly Father.
Jesus experienced the bitter pangs of death so that we might have hope. Not just hope for being made alive in this world as it is, but being brought back to life in the glory of heaven. This is why he tells us that he (Jn. 11:25-26) is the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though he dies. And whoever lives by believing in me will never die. The miracle he did in Bethany was a blessing for those who weren’t there, for those of us who were not even born yet. Our hope is rooted in the goodness and power of our loving God who freely gives eternal life.
We believe that because we have seen God’s glory in raising dead sinners back to life. We believe that because we have seen God’s glory in raising the Son of Man back to life. So our life and our hope are in Christ.
(1 Cor. 15:19-20) If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
Indeed, we do have hope in Christ. Hope not of a respawning, where we must live in this sin-broken world for a little while longer. Hope not of a reincarnation, where we live as some other life form and try to do a better job. Our hope is in Christ’s resurrection & ours. Because he lives, we also will live. And that gift also gives us hope when our hopes seem to be dashed. When we meet struggles & disappointment & yes, even death. We have eternal joy and hope in Christ. Because he has raised sinners back to life and rose triumphantly from the grave, we have hope is beyond all that we can think or imagine. Hope of life eternal joy in heaven. Amen.